Brian R. Smith

Writing stories about færies and demons

Pirates kidnapped eleven year-old Lugh from the sandy shore of bronze-aged Ireland. He endured three years of brutal slavery, until purchased by Master Ziyǔ in the far eastern Land of the Dragon. Ziyǔ, a Confucian (孔夫子) disciple, taught Lugh how to weave powerful spells from multi-colored ribbons of light drawn from the five Wǔ Xíng (五行) elements of Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth.

Lugh returned home as a young man. There, he learned Balor, the demonic leader of the giant Fomoire who ruled Ireland with an evil eye, had destroyed his family and village. Lugh joined forces with firebrand Fionnuala (his first kiss), powerful Ogma (the King’s champion), diminutive Daithí (a leipreachán), and voluptuous Áine (an Irish mermaid), to search for and recover the five magical Wǔ Xíng wishing stones (魔法石) scattered across the rich Irish landscape. Only these would ensure Balor’s destruction and Ireland’s thousand-year liberation from the Fomoire.

This is a “new-telling” of the Irish “Lugh the Long Arm” legend, fused with Confucian-based Eastern philosophy. It’s Lugh’s love of a woman, Ireland, and a good fight, which drove him to sacrifice everything as the first Spell Weaver of Ireland.

SPELL WEAVERS is a 110,000-word Young Adult, dual-timeline, quest, low-fantasy story, with elements of horror and historical fiction. It’s written in English, but key words are presented in Irish and Chinese to add authenticity for readers from those countries.

My novel will appeal to fans of Gabaldon’s OUTLANDER (CROSS STITCH) due to an immersion in Celtic Ireland, historical fiction, and a strong female protagonist (minus the naughty parts), and Tolkien’s HOBBIT due to the quest-based Irish færy-tale storyline. All intricately woven together with a visually appealing Confucian-based magic system.